


The Black Coeurl Caper - Google Docs

by domiwoof



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: All Saints' Wake (Final Fantasy XIV), Gen, Halloween
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:54:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27285250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/domiwoof/pseuds/domiwoof
Summary: Dominic and Rory, chasing the trail of a group of thieves, have been locked in a familiar mansion just before All Saint’s Wake. What will happen to them?
Kudos: 2





	The Black Coeurl Caper - Google Docs

**Author's Note:**

> Requested by a friend on Twitter!

_ CREAAAAAK! _

The sound of wood pulling against metal rang throughout the dimly lit foyer as a tanned man pulled at the handles of a series of double doors, before letting out a sharp groan. He would kick at the door with his foot before stepping away, his eyes laying on his purple-haired, leathered companion with a dissatisfied scowl.

“It won’t budge! I can’t believe we’ve been locked in here!”

“Half expected it when the trail led to this place…” his companion said, with a sigh.

“Well you’re awfully calm for someone who just got locked in a creepy mansion. You’re loving this, aren’t you?”

“Hardly. I’ve just been here before,” the other said, before pushing off of his boots and standing, stretching his arms into the air.

“Haukke Manor, once the site of Gridania’s most grisly series of killings… now, a tourist attraction for All Saint’s Wake. Considering we’re nearing the holiday terminus…”

Dominic paused, tilting his head as he scanned the floor and stairwell, narrowing his eyes.

“...I would say they’re still decorating. Which makes this all the more bizarre…”

Rory sighed.

“There seem to be glowing footprints on the ground…” he said, arms crossed defensively before him.

“Yeah. Those are normal. Did you not attend the haunted house last year?” asked the Seeker curiously.

“Wh-what? No, I…” Rory stepped back, shaking his head.

Dominic smirked.

“Oh…? If I didn’t know any better, I’d say… you’re a bit scared. Are you scared, puppy?” he asked, snickering.

Rory frowned.

“Shouldn’t we be searching…? The trail of coeurl kittens and chocobo chicks led here, after all…”

Dominic blinked, nodding.

“...aye. The feathers trailing the door showed that much.”

_ Although they’re chicks… why would they shed their feathers so young? _

_ Creaaaaaaaak… streeetch… _

The Seeker placed his hand at his chin.

“I have a bad feeling in the air. Something feels… wrong. A set-up is one thing, but there’s… a lot of energy, here…”

“Energy?”

Dominic’s furred purple ears twitched, an awkward smile spread across his face as he’d laugh.

“...I sometimes forget you are not a Warrior of Light. I can sense void energies. There is… a concentration, in the basement,” the violet-haired Seeker said, gesticulating with his palm.

“Behind the stairs is a large ballroom which leads to the basement. I believe we’ll find the source of the energy in the center cell.”

“What kinda mansion has cells…?!” Rory asked, eyes wide in disbelief.

“I’d… better not answer that. You might piss yourself from the details, and I haven’t any puppy pads on me,” the Seeker snickered before turning and walking away, beckoning Rory to follow.

“Come along now, pup.”

Rory frowned, taking small steps towards the Miqo’te, his eyes scanning all around them as he followed.

“...I-I would not piss myself…”

~

Haukke Manor, despite its impressive decorations, was surprisingly bare. As Dominic had surmised, it seemed the pair had caught the mansion just shortly before the event. Perhaps they’d left for the day, or maybe they were on break. Regardless, there seemed to be enough of a reason for the pair to press onwards with Dominic’s heavy leather boots echoing across the carpet. Rory had taken to running up to his master and companion, sticking close by him as he’d repeatedly turn and scan the space both ahead and above, humorously under some sort of impression that whatever beings may assail them could come from the air. Dominic  _ could _ have dispelled this belief, but he chose not to, instead letting the silence between them be filled by the awkward, grating creaking from the basement stairwell.

“Paw prints…” Rory remarked, tilting his head as the pair would step off the bottom landing.

“From werewolves,” Dominic nodded. “Or… werepups, in your case.”

“T-they have glowing paws…?”

“Nonsense, those are fake. Honestly, can’t you tell how they’re arranged? They’re headed towards the corner of the stairwell… there’s not anything interesting there.”

Dominic paused. A creeping sensation began to work its way up his back and neck, causing him to turn directly towards the large, gaping doorway behind them, where sat a sizable stone prison of sorts with one open cell in the center, poised as if it were the gaping maw of a dragon threatening to swallow up the pair.

“There…” Dominic whispered. “They’re in there.”

“H-hmm… a-are we… prepared? What should I er…”

“Just stay calm. I have a feeling… that maybe we’ve worked this out wrong.”

“H-huh? What do you mean…?” Rory asked, looking quizzically at his master.

Dominic crossed his arms.

“Up until now we had been laboring under the assumption that a bevy of missing coeurl kittens, and chocobo chicks were stolen. All black. By thieves. Yes?”

“Yeah…”

“But we’ve seen no traces of thieves. Isn’t that odd? Also, why would a group of thieves flee to a mansion, and then lock us inside? There’s no escaping Haukke’s basement. If you were to go anywhere, it would be a place outdoors. In the Twelveswood.”

“That… does make sense…” the tanned hyur said, his fist against his lips as his blond bangs fell over his eyes.

“So then… if there were no thieves… then what happened?”

“I-I haven’t a clue… m-maybe they ran away?”

“Precisely. But  _ why _ ?”

“I… I don’t… know… the village said they were stolen.”

“Hmm…” Dominic hummed.

As the pair mused on the confusing conflicts in the stories they’d heard, a loud sound erupted from the cell. It was immediately proceeded by a chilling, earsplitting “ _ meow” _ .

“A-a cat…!”

Dominic nodded. “Wits about you, pup. Let’s go… I think we’ll be finding our answer soon enough…”

With his hands in the pockets of his tattered black and purple leather coat, Dominic stepped forward across the cobblestone as Rory scrambled to follow behind, cautiously stepping over the threshold of the cell as the pair would look on. There, sitting in the corner of the entryway, was a sizable lantern with a burning blue flame. As their eyes swept across the chamber they spied a bevy of chains in the back of the room and a heavy iron grate in the center, and that… was where they saw it.

Or rather, them.

A small group of sixteen, approximately - eight small black chocobo chicks and eight small black coeurl kittens. They were standing in what seemed to be an octogonal shape, with two in each pair as Dominic and Rory paused, the Seeker holding out his arm as if to tell Rory not to move one step further.

“Heehee! We should have more than enough now!”

“Yes, yes. Those scary humans quit chasing us, too… I think we’re safe now.”

“Oh! That was so spooky! I thought I was a goner when the red one caught up with me!”

“You’ve lost quite a lot of feathers, too… what a sorry sight to greet the Great Pumpkin…”

“H-hey, guys…?”

“Oh, you’re one to talk! Look at your tail! You haven’t brushed it in days!”

“G-guys…”

“Well it’s not like we  _ have  _ to take care of these appearances. After all, they are all ju—“

“ _ Guys! _ It’s the red and purple one!”

“WHA?!”

All sixteen beings quickly turned and stared, taking horrified note of Dominic and Rory as they stepped back in unison.

“O-oh no…! They’ve cornered us…!”

Dominic crossed his arms.

“Alright, alright, let’s not jump to conclusions now. What is all of this? Are you the missing coeurl kittens and chocobo chicks?”

“The what?” asked the chocobo chicks, looking to the kittens.

“The who?” asked the coeurl kittens, looking to the chocobo chicks.

“ _ Us? _ ” the group asked, collectively.

“Yes, you! We were told by the village you were missing! What on Hydaelyn are you  _ doing _ down here?” Dominic asked, placing his hand on his hip.

“H-h-h-his sword… is so big…” one of the kittens said, cowering behind a chick.

“Aahhhh, they’re staring with such  _ fierce _ eyes!”

“And  _ we’re  _ supposed to be the demons?!”

“D-demons?!” Rory shouted. “Wh… h-hey, what do you mean by that?!”

One of the kittens stepped forward, taking a seat as they would lazily lick at their paw.

“I think the jig’s up. We may as well show ourselves.”

“Oh, very well…”

Dominic gasped as he noted the pair come together, followed by an explosion of black smoke which revealed… a group of white, flying pumpkins, causing Dominic to step back in shock as Rory screeched.

“Wh-what are  _ those?! Why are they white?! _ ”

“How rude! I will have you know we service the Great Pumpkin themself!”

“Great… Pumpkin?”

One of the pumpkins nodded, fluttering through the air.

“You see, this place has harnessed quite a lot of dark energy over the years! And when it was turned over to the Continental Circus, the Impresario had us come and make sure that the festivities would have a certain…  _ authentic _ flair to them!”

Another pumpkin nodded.

“So every year, we gather together and take on forms common to the people of this world, soaking in people’s fears about All Saint’s Wake, and releasing them here to summon the Great Pumpkin! The Great Pumpkin is what makes sure that all of the spooky events here in the mansion go off without a hitch!”

Another frowned.

“But  _ this _ year,  _ we _ ended up being the ones who were scared! Two terrifying men sent chills down our spines, so we fled the village and took refuge here, hoping what we had gained would be enough to summon our lord!”

“Two…”

“Men?”

Dominic and Rory looked at each other, both tilting their heads.

“Are… you talking about us?” Dominic asked.

“Yes!”

“The left one is especially scary! He has such a dark energy to him!”

“Dark energy? This puppy?” Rory asked, snickering. Dominic frowned, and the puppy immediately went back to cowering behind his master as the Seeker would sigh.

“So let me get this straight… you were all collecting people’s fears to give to the Great Pumpkin, to ensure the All Saint’s Wake festivities are a success?” Dominic asked. “And we interrupted you… by being in town at the time… thus causing you all to panic and scurry away, making the townspeople think there was a kid—er— _ chick and kitten _ -napping… and our pursuit of you was actually us cornering you further down here?”

“Yes! Yes that is all correct!”

“Oh, you shouldn’t think of harming us! We can play some very mean tricks!”

“We’ll make you an  _ actual _ puppy, wolf!”

“As entertaining as that would be, I think there’s a misunderstanding here. You see, we’re mercenaries—or rather, I am. That one’s just a scared puppy. We came here to protect you. We thought there were thieves in hiding looking to hurt you.”

“Hurt?”

“Us?”

Rory nodded.

“The townspeople were concerned… so they sent us to hunt down your trail.”

“A flurry of fur and feathers were enough to conclude there was a struggle… which I now see was you all fleeing in fear,” Dominic replied, clicking his tongue.

“O-oh my!”

“Oh me!”

“Oh hee!”

“The feathers?!” 

All of the pumpkins turned to look at one in particular, whose carved face was curved into a saddened frown.

“W-what?! I was terrified! You expect me to keep my feathers in place while fleeing and stumbling on my feet?!”

“What a mess!” One of the pumpkins said, turning to Dominic. “They came here to protect us!”

“They’re friends!”

“Friends of the Great Pumpkin!”

Dominic shrugged lightly.

“Well as far as I’m concerned, we have nothing to fear… it seems you are all safe, so the case is solved.”

Rory blinked.

“W-what will you… all be doing now…?”

“We must summon the Great Pumpkin!”

“Indeed! The event is coming soon!”

“The humans won’t do with an unsatisfying display! But we need more fear energy!”

“Fear energy helps us feed the Great Pumpkin and make him stronger!”

“When he’s stronger, the events are scarier!”

“The mansion is darker!”

Dominic blinked.

“A-are you suggesting…?”

“ _ Indeed _ ! Let us scare you!”

Rory gasped.

“N-no! Master…!”

The Seeker chuckled.

“My puppy here is a bit shy around scary things… but I’ll gladly take you up on it.”

And so it was that the pair ended up spending the rest of their evening in Haukke Manor, performing tasks and playing games to generate the fear energy needed to rouse the Impresario’s Great Pumpkin from its deep slumber.

The Black Coeurl Caper was closed, and Dominic and Rory had a new outlook on the meaning of All Saint’s Wake, and its festivities…

~ END


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